The ready-to-eat cereal product market is very large with sales averaging above $10 billion a year and substantial profits are available for manufacturers due to the relatively low cost associated with the production of most cereal products. Since many cereal products are fundamentally similar in quality, nutritional content, taste and other factors typically used by consumers to differentiate foodstuffs, most cereal manufacturers rely on a combination of packaging, advertisements, and consumer promotions to provide product differentiation and a corresponding increase in sales.
For example, cereal advertising is heavily targeted toward children, the primary consumer of many cereal products, and often includes animated characters that appeal to younger children. Also, many cereal products include prizes or awards that are contained within the cereal package or that can be received after the purchase of a predetermined number of boxes of the cereal. Still other cereal products include various confections, such as marshmallow xe2x80x9ccharms,xe2x80x9d colorful xe2x80x9cberries,xe2x80x9d or sugary xe2x80x9cfrostingsxe2x80x9d designed to appeal to younger consumers, or strive for differentiation through variations in color or shape of the cereal product.
Over time, however, the ability to distinguish one manufacturer""s cereal product from another""s has diminished as all manufacturer""s have adopted the above strategies to increase product sales. Consumer promotions, variations in color and the inclusion of confections permeate the consumer cereal market. As a result, there is a need to provide a novel cereal product that appeals to cereal consumers, and particularly to younger consumers that constitute a disproportionately larger portion of cereal consumers. Any marketing advantage, no matter how slight, can easily result in increased sales and profits sufficient to justify its cost.
Prior art cereal products are known where the cereal floats or sinks when placed in milk. In these prior art cereals, however, there is no differentiation between the different cereal pieces. That is, the entire portion of cereal either floats or sinks and there is no intended difference in buoyancy between cereal pieces. Furthermore, prior art cereals fail to recognize that the cereal product should have specific physical attributes (such as color, shape, size or taste) that correspond to the buoyancy of the cereal.
FIG. 1A illustrates one such prior art cereal including bowl 10, liquid, such as milk, 12 and a plurality of cereal pieces 14. As shown in FIG. 1A, cereal pieces 14 all have a density less than that of the liquid 12 and thus float in liquid 12. Conversely, FIG. 1B illustrates a plurality of cereal pieces 16 having a density greater than that of liquid 12, and thus the cereal pieces 16 sink when placed in liquid 12.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,515,822 to Kraig et al. generally discloses that many puffed cereals have a relatively light density such that they float in milk. The reference addresses problems associated with the addition of fruit to such cereals, for example, that when milk is added, the puffed cereal pieces float while the fruit sinks out of sight in the milk. To solve this problem, Kraig et al. discloses puffed fruit pieces for incorporation into ready-to-eat cereals wherein the puffed fruit pieces are characterized by a low density of from 0.15 to 0.40 grams per cc. and thus do not sink in milk.
Kraig et al., however, fails to disclose a cereal product wherein a first portion of cereal floats in milk and a second portion of cereal sinks, or any relationship between physical characteristics of the cereal and the buoyancy thereof. In fact, the reference teaches that such a result is undesirable in that one primary object of the invention disclosed in Kraig et al. is to avoid a cereal product wherein a first portion of the product (cereal) floats while a second portion of the product (fruit) sinks. Rather, the reference teaches that it is desirable that the entire product, including the fruit and cereal, float on the surface of milk.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,759,942 to Von Fulger generally discloses expanded cereals having a specific density of from 0.15 to 0.40 grams per cc. The reference, however, is directed to a process for producing a high fiber content direct expanded ready-to-eat breakfast cereal and clearly fails to disclose or suggest a cereal product having a first portion that floats in a liquid such as milk and a second portion that sinks therein.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,622,744 to Matson et al. discloses a method for producing sinking aquatic feed and densified cattle xe2x80x9crange cubesxe2x80x9d wherein the final animal feed product is dense enough to sink in water. The reference, however, fails to disclose or suggest such a method for use with human consumable cereal products and further fails to suggest that the product should be formed such that a first portion floats and a second portion sinks. Rather, Matson et al. strive for an animal feed product that uniformly sinks in water.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a ready-to-eat cereal product that solves the above disadvantages and provides a cereal product having enhanced marketing characteristics.
It is another of the present invention to provide a novel cereal product that appeals to younger consumers, such a children.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a ready-to-eat cereal product that achieves enhanced product differentiation from other available consumer cereal products.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a cereal product having unique characteristics that appeal to cereal consumers and provides a marketing advantage.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a consumer cereal product including multiple portions of cereal having different physical characteristics that provide amusement and entertainment to consumers of the cereal product.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a consumer cereal product including multiple portions of cereal having differing densities such that the multiple portions experience differing buoyancies in a liquid such as milk.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a consumer ready-to-eat cereal product wherein a first portion of cereal has physical characteristics that differ from a second portion of cereal, wherein the first and second portions of cereal have differing densities such that the portions experience differing buoyancies in a liquid such as milk.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a cereal product wherein a first portion of the cereal floats in a liquid, such as milk, and a second portion of the cereal sinks in the liquid.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a cereal product that includes a portion of cereal with a specific gravity greater than 1 with respect to milk.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a consumer cereal product including a portion having a soluble coating formed thereon that causes the portion to sink in a liquid such as milk, wherein the portion will rise and float in the liquid when the soluble coating dissolves.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a cereal product wherein a portion of the cereal has a specific gravity less than 1 with respect to milk and is coated with a soluble substance that increases the specific gravity of that portion of the cereal to a value greater than 1 with respect to milk.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a consumer cereal product wherein each of a plurality of pieces of cereal has a specific gravity low enough to float in a liquid such as milk and includes a first and second portion, the first portion having a higher density than the second portion so that the cereal piece tends to float with the lower density portion to the top.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide such a cereal product wherein a soluble coating is provided over the lower density portion to increase the density of this portion such that the cereal piece initially floats with the higher density portion to the top and, as the coating dissolves, the cereal piece rotates so that the lower density portion is toward the top.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a consumer cereal product that includes a first cereal portion having a density different from a second cereal portion, wherein the first and second portions further differ in color, shape, size or other characteristic.
These and other objects are achieved in the present invention through the provision of a consumer cereal product including first and second portions, the first portion having a specific gravity less than 1 with respect to a liquid, such as milk, so that it floats in the liquid, and the second portion having a specific gravity greater than 1 with respect to that liquid so that it sinks therein. In an alternative embodiment, a cereal is provided having a density less than a liquid so that the cereal floats therein and a portion of the cereal is coated with a soluble substance having a density sufficient to cause that portion of the cereal to sink in the liquid. As the coating dissolves, the cereal becomes more buoyant and rises to the top of the liquid. In a further embodiment, a cereal product is provided wherein each piece of cereal has a specific gravity low enough to float in a liquid such as milk and includes a first and second portion, the first portion having a higher density than the second portion so that the cereal piece tends to float with the lower density portion to the top. A soluble coating is provided over the lower density portion to increase the density of this portion such that the cereal piece initially floats with the higher density portion to the top. As the coating dissolves, the cereal piece rotates so that the lower density portion is toward the top. In each case, the cereal is colored, textured, shaped, sized, or otherwise physically differentiated to provide amusement and entertainment to a consumer of the product. The various embodiments can be combined as desired to achieve a cereal product that provides amusement and entertainment to consumers thereof.